Our Thankful Tree

Thankfulness is a big deal to me. I definitely want it to be a big deal to my kids as well. I heard about the "Thankful Tree" several years ago. I finally got my bootie in gear this year and made it happen. I want thankfulness to be a habit around the Evans Home, not just around Thanksgiving. As parents, it is OUR job to teach it, encourage it and model it. It doesn't hurt if there is paint involved too! :)

I know what you're thinking: "WOW! I've never seen purple & blue leaves before!" You guessed it! Shaefer's favorite color is purple so she INSISTED on purple leaves for all of her "thankfuls". And you know Trey, if Shaefer gets purple leaves, then he HAS to have blue ones! I love it!

We had a great time with this craft! I look forward to keeping the leaves each year to see how their "thankfuls" evolve as they grow up.

Most importantly, we are thankful for Jesus! He is our everything!

We are nothing without Him!

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

Thanks Amanda for another AWESOME idea!

Golden Goodness

The Chronicles of Narnia movies are some of our favorites around here. We've seen each one numerous times, sometimes daily! :) The kids enjoy the story, the characters and the animals. Alf and I enjoy those things too, however, we are in love with the story of Jesus Christ (as Aslan the Lion) that is told through each one.

Once we decided to homeschool, I KNEW these books were first on our reading list! We are on book 2 of 6 right now. Trey and I are enjoying reading through these together. He is always quick to point out where the book and the movie don't match up! :) I told him that they can't always do everything the book says or else the movie would be WAY too long. Luckily, that answer was sufficient! The awesome thing about reading these books out loud to each other (besides the obvious reading practice) is that we can talk through it together. Even more importantly I can explain why some passages stick out to me or make me cry when I read them. Because the stories are ultimately pointing to Jesus, I've had more than a few emotional reading sessions. I've included one section below that really struck my heart:

"Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just round some corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well."

The Magician's Nephew (Book 1) by C.S. Lewis

Trey looked concerned as tears rolled down my face as I read this section to him a few weeks ago.

"Are you sad?" Trey asked.

I said, "No sweetie. These words struck me because this is how I feel about Jesus. I am nothing without Him. There is no good in me without Him. From the second I asked Him into my heart many years ago, He has never left me...and He never will."

It was such a sweet time with my son! I love sharing these times with him!

What a Day!!!

Man. Am I glad today's school day is over? YES I AM!! Today was one of those days when I seriously began to doubt our decision to homeschool this year. I knew these days would come. I was warned these days would come. At least I know we are on the right track! :)

Last week, my best friend Amanda and I were discussing our curriculum choices for this year. We were about to begin our 3rd full week and we weren't totally confident in what we had originally chosen for a few of our subjects. Our boys are both in the 2nd grade and similar in a lot of ways. We decided to take that 3rd week to really pray about what was best for our boys, give our current curriculum one more week, then make a decision over the weekend.

The "test" week came and went and we both made our decisions. I decided to stay with what I had chosen for Grammar, while choosing to change our Spelling/Vocabulary. So on Friday I packed up the kids and headed to Mardel to pick up our new curriculum. Trey and I sat in the middle of the aisle looking at all of our options. In the end, we went with a more challenging curriculum but I KNEW he could handle it. I had NO DOUBT! Now I just had to convince Trey that he could do it...

Today was the first day of the new Spelling/Vocabulary curriculum. It did not go well at all! There were tears. Lots of tears. I mean the big, honkin' tears. Tears that stained his paper. And did I mention that he was MAD? Really mad. He told me over and over how mad he was that I chose this HARD stuff for him to do. He threatened to tear up the paper. He threatened to mark all over it so he couldn't finish it. Although this is hard for me to write about, is he really any different from any of us adults? When we encounter HARD stuff, are we any more mature than this? Don't we throw tantrums? Don't we threaten God with all sorts of things? Don't we just want to quit? I know I do!

Another teachable moment laid before us. I got to talk him through his emotions. I got to tell him that it is okay to be angry and mad, however, it is not okay to hurt or destroy things in our anger.

In your anger do not sin.

Ephesians 4:26

I love that verse. I love it because it tells me that it's okay to have emotions. Another version says, "WHEN angry, do not sin." The anger/emotion isn't the issue, it's what I do IN the emotion that I have to be careful of.

While Trey was struggling through his lesson, I walked over and put my arm around him. I gave him a big hug and kiss and reassured him that he could do what we had chosen. I reassured him that I wasn't being hard on him to be mean. I reassured him that I loved him and that I was very proud of him for pushing through. He looked up at me with huge tears in his eyes again and said, "I know you love me mom. I just don't like hard things. I just don't like it when people push me." Again, my heart was plucked. Again, I was reassured that he really is my son! :) He is me in a little boy body!

Personally, I am in the midst of some hard things right now. In less than 3 weeks I will be around the world in Cambodia playing a small role in God's plan of justice against child sex trafficking and bonded slavery. Can I just let you in on a little secret? I am scared. I am nervous. I am totally out of my comfort zone. And I just said those exact same words to God last night that my sweet boy expressed to me today.

"God, I know you love me. You have me going to a hard place. You have me doing some hard things. I don't like it when you push me."

And do you know what He did this morning in my time with Him?

While I was struggling, He leaned down through His Word and put His arm around me. He gave me a big hug and kiss and reassured me that WE could do what He had chosen for me...together. He reassured me that He wasn't being hard on me to be mean...but for preparation. He reassured me that He loves me and that He is very proud of me for pushing through.

Man. What a day.

Life Lessons from Frog & Toad

Trey and I went to the library a few weeks ago to choose some good books to read. At that time we were still waiting for our curriculum to arrive in the mail, so we read, read, read and then read some more. We walked the aisles of the readers, pondering all of the many options. My eyes instantly fixed on the green binding of this book:

The Frog and Toad books were some of my absolute favorites as a child! So I did what any good mother would do...I got them ALL! :) Trey wasn't too thrilled at my choice initially. The first thing he said was, "Mom, those pictures are not colorful at all!" I asked him to trust me. He said he would and we were on our way. But not before he picked out this one:

At first I protested. Riddled with first time homeschooling doubt I thought, "He can't read THAT! THAT isn't good enough for our reading time! He needs to be reading better things!" I felt a quiet nudge in my heart to ease up and find some freedom in our new adventure. Let me just assure you that he's had his nose in that book READING for about 4 weeks straight now!

I apologize for the rabbit trail...let's get back to Frog and Toad. :)

The very first story in the book is called "Tomorrow." The crux of the story is that Toad wakes up one morning and instantly begins to make a mental list of all the things he need to accomplish that day. He decides he would rather wait until tomorrow to tackle his chores. As he lays in bed, he instantly begins to feel overwhelmed.

"Blah," said Toad. "I feel down in the dumps."

"Why?" asked Frog.

"I am thinking about tomorrow," said Toad. "I am thinking about all the many things that I will have to do."

I can't tell you how many times I have felt this exact same way...completely overwhelmed with tasks, worry and anxiety! As Trey and I read this story together, we had a great teachable moment. Not only did I get to share my own struggles with him, but I also got a chance to share TRUTH with him.

So do not worry about tomorrow;

for tomorrow will care for itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

As we school at home this year, we not only working on academics. We are working on character. We are working on making wise choices. We are working on pushing through the hard stuff. And most importantly, we are seeing that God is everywhere and totally applicable in ALL areas of our life.

I get to watch the light bulbs switch on!

First Day of 2nd Grade

I wanted to share our first day of homeschool with you! We made it! There is a summer-long story behind our decision, but that is for another day!

Today we celebrate with pictures!

Here is our big 2nd grader!

Of course Shaefer Kay had to join in on his big day!

Trey got to choose breakfast... glazed donuts!

Shaefer thoroughly enjoyed her donut holes!

We couldn't get started until they had their morning wrestle!

Here is our school table!

This is the most familiar spot for both of us, so we will start here. I don't expect to spend too many days here as we get more comfortable.

I love the freedom to learn where ever we want to!

Getting ready to begin!

Shaefer LOVED her special spot with her special things!

Gettin' his school on!

We were able to celebrate Trey's big day at his favorite dinner spot: CHILI'S!! It was a great ending to a great day!! Don't get me wrong...it was FAR from perfect. We had 2 tearful breakdowns within the first hour. Overcoming "summer brain" coupled with the adjustment to having mommy as the teacher would probably bring any one of us to tears. The great thing was that I got to be the one to walk him through his frustration. I got to hold him as he cried. We were able to talk it out right then. We were able to move on together. I am excited to see what this year holds for us!

Until next time...

PEACE OUT!!! :)